Summer Skin
by VikkiHeat
Summary: Castle/Beckett. Completely AU. Kate spends her college summer vacation at the Hamptons where she meets and falls in love with young novelist Rick Castle. Will their romance last or will it fall apart once the summer ends?


**Summer Skin**

Castle/Beckett. Completely AU. Kate spends her college summer vacation at the Hamptons where she meets and falls in love with young novelist Rick Castle. Will their romance last or will it fall apart once the summer ends?

This is a completely AU story set while Kate is 21 and at college, Rick is a little older. He's just started having his novels published, while Kate is studying law at Stanford. I've taken a lot of liberties with this story: Johanna didn't die, Rick didn't marry Gina nor has he had Alexis. This is just a bit of fun because the Castle fandom, particularly the Caskett shippers, really need some light fluff right now! The prologue is set at the end of the summer, but the majority of the story will be about their summer together in the Hamptons. The title of this story comes from 'Summer Skin' by Death Cab For Cutie. The lyrics will probably be used occasionally throughout the story.  
Thanks to everyone who reviewed my story 'If It Takes All Night', I hope you like this one, too! As usual, Castle doesn't belong to me.

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Prologue: Dog Days Are Over

Kate looked over at the piles of bags and suitcases piled up on the double bed. She hastily wiped away the one tear that had fallen; stubbornly refusing to let any more of them seep from her eyelids. Katherine Beckett did not cry over boys, especially not cocky, handsome ones like Richard Castle. This had been the best summer of her life and returning to her parents' home in New York before heading back to college was breaking her heart.

"Katie, are you ready to leave?" Her father called up the stairs, forcing her to face the reality of the here and now.

Everything was packed up and she was dressed, all that was left was to load up the car with their belongings. Physically she was ready to go, but emotionally she wanted to remain here, even if he wasn't.

"I'm coming!" She called back, picking up a few of the lighter bags and going to join Jim and Johanna in the kitchen. Her parents knew that leaving was hurting her but, though they could guess, they didn't know the exact reason why their daughter was so depressed.

Before this summer, Kate had never visited the Hamptons, let alone spend the entire summer there. Usually her vacations with her parents had included trips to European countries like France and Italy. But in the spring, whilst working a dangerous legal case, Johanna Beckett had been shot. For a few days both Kate and her father had feared that Johanna would succumb to her injuries but, against the odds, she had pulled through. After intensive rehabilitation, Johanna had regained most of her strength but her doctors had recommended rest, relaxation and a mild, sunny environment. So, instead of sightseeing and travelling, the three Becketts had rented a house in the Hamptons for a few months.

Kate had never expected that the summer she spent in the Hamptons would be the summer that she fell in love.

Jim and Kate loaded up the car, and she gave the house one last long look of goodbye. She wondered if she would ever see the place again. She walked slowly to the car and climbed into the back, giving her mother a small smile to reassure her that she was okay.

Jim started up the car and they pulled away from the house, turning their backs on the coast roads. As they made their way out of the small, exclusive neighbourhood, they drove by his house. Just because it was empty it didn't mean that Kate felt any less heart sick about leaving it behind her. Turning her head to face away from the house where so many of her most memorable moments of the summer had happened, she wiped away tears she hadn't known were falling. She fixed another smile onto her face, even if only for her parents' sakes.

* * *

Richard Rodgers, Castle, he had to continually keep reminding himself, leaned his head back against the plush plane seat's headrest. Just because he could afford to fly in the first class seats now, it didn't mean that he was exempt from a hangover. Or a broken heart. Now that he was rich; rich enough to own his own property in New York City and the Hamptons, Rick had no shortage of women lining up to entertain him. Having split up with Kyra, his only serious girlfriend, Rick had been enjoying playing the field. At least until he had met Kate Beckett. He had thought that he loved Kyra, but what he had felt for her was nothing compared to his feelings for Kate.

Now she was gone too, back to her law degree at Stanford. She'd probably be engaged to a fancy lawyer type soon, with a perfect suburban life while he plotted how to kill people for a living and rattled around in a big with women who would bore the hell out of him once he had bedded them.

Rick looked out of the window as the plane began its descent into Los Angeles. He couldn't help but think that LA wasn't too far from Stanford, not really, and whether Kate would be back at her university yet. He had wanted to try and move on, and forget about her, but he was slowly becoming convinced that Kate Beckett wasn't the forgettable sort of person. If it someone had told him that this summer he would meet the woman who would change his life, Rick Castle never would have believed them, but that was exactly what had happened.


End file.
